Surprises
by Sumiregusa
Summary: "Kenshin somehow got the impression they weren't talking about streets any more, but he had absolutely no clue what the two young women were laughing at. It sounded almost as if... but no, it couldn't be. Not his sweet little Kaoru-dono?" Repost.


The weather was unusually warm for this time of year, the sun shining brightly in the deep blue sky, and stood out of the crisp spring breeze as he currently was, Kenshin could almost pretend it was summer. The winter hadn't been particularly cold either, only a few weeks of storms and not much snow to speak of, something both he and Kaoru were grateful for, if for slightly different reasons. It seemed that she was prone to colds, and disliked the chill weather with a vehemence he found more than a little endearing. She had spent most of the winter months bundled up in layer upon layer of heavy clothing, making certain the house and the Dojo was as warm as possible, and clucking bad temperedly under her breath whenever even the slightest breath of cold touched her. Kenshin found himself smiling as he cut wood for the fire, thinking that it was as though she were waging a personal war against the winter months and the cold they brought with them.

Now it was over, she was beginning to leave the house a little more freely, smiling whenever she saw the sun and the clear sky with a radiance that he felt rivalled the warmth in question. A few mornings now, he had found her standing in the yard, arms outstretched in front of her, eyes closed, and face turned up towards the sun like a beautiful flower soaking up the light and heat. She had worn a smile of such peace and silent joy, he couldn't help but watch her. Every single time she caught him, finally turning around to re-enter the house, but she hadn't said even a word, only grinning happily, her bright blue eyes shining in such a way that had his heart clenching in his chest.

Today Tae was visiting, and since it was so warm, the two girls had decided to take tea on the engawa. He had chosen to make himself scarce, standing at the far side and concentrating on what he was doing so that they could catch up freely. Or at least, he tried to make it look like he was concentrating on his task. Kenshin didn't like to think of it as eavesdropping, but with his acute hearing and a rather unfortunate need to listen whenever Kaoru spoke, even if it wasn't to him, it was more of a courtesy that he pretended he couldn't hear them. Something about her laughter just never failed to draw him in, and he couldn't help but want to know the things she found amusing.

Picking up another log, he set it carefully down to be chopped into a size easier to use and tried not to smile too widely. The two girls weren't exactly speaking of things he shouldn't be listening to, it was true. As with most young women, they spoke of nothing in particular, laughing and joking, sharing news of people and work. It was innocent talk. Things that were comforting to hear. Peaceful talk for peaceful times.

Right now, his sweet, innocent Kaoru-dono was asking about a new venture that Tae's family were undertaking at the Akabeko, her face alight with interest as her friend explained the ideas and difficulties.

"Tou-san thinks there's definitely a market for delivering to people's homes," Tae said with a small shrug. "But it would mean hiring someone specifically for that role, and he's reluctant to do that in case it doesn't work out. Also, it would have to be someone who isn't easily robbed. We could make heavy losses otherwise."

"I suppose you still could, if the idea doesn't really hit off," Kaoru conceded. "But I think with enough advertising, it could work out. Not everyone can cook, so I think it would be popular."

Even as Kenshin smiled, Tae laughed heartily, "Kaoru-chan, most people _can _cook, at least a little! You're the only person I know that has trouble with everything!"

"Don't upset your potentially biggest customer, Tae," Kaoru pouted, her reaction to her friend's teasing far less violent than it would be if he or Yahiko said anything. "And I can't be the only person in Japan that can't cook, you know. I bet I'm not even the only one in Tokyo, for that matter. Yahiko can't cook."

"Yahiko is twelve." Tae smirked.

"So what?"

Tae laughed again at Kaoru's petulant behaviour, "I could try to teach you again, if you like?"

"No," Kaoru sighed, Kenshin's ears pricking up at this. "Thanks Tae, but no. I really don't think it's fair to keep putting you through that."

She had tried to take cooking lessons from Tae? When had that happened? Kenshin frowned a little as he split the log and tossed the two smaller pieces aside, making room for another. More importantly, why hadn't she asked him?

"Why haven't you asked Kenshin?" Tae said, almost reading his thoughts as she lowered her voice in an almost laughable attempt to make sure he didn't hear. "He's a good cook, right?"

He felt both sets of eyes on him and made certain to continue his work without so much as glancing their way. He suspected Kaoru realised that he would know he was being watched, but hopefully not that he could still hear them.

Her own voice lowered to a mumble, "I don't really want to ask him. I hate to be a bother and it's a little embarrassing."

Kenshin found he didn't like that one bit, and resolved to offer to teach her sometime soon. It was true that there was still much unsaid between himself and Kaoru since Enishi and his twisted Jinchu, but he hoped that she at least realised she could ask him for something so simple without feeling bothersome? She was anything _but _a bother, her kindness, compassion and love had given him a home, and most importantly, a hope for some kind of happy and normal future at her side. Spending the past few months with her, just the two of them, had given him time to think, time to know with his whole heart that he loved her, that he wanted to always be with her, and that they could lead a happy, beautiful life together, despite everything.

He just hadn't quite figured out how to broach the subject, his innocent little Kaoru potentially still too young and innocent to enter into such a relationship. He didn't mean to belittle her, not at all, but she seemed to have such a sheltered view of life, and while he knew he would do all he could to preserve that innocence, he wasn't quite ready to jeopardise it yet. He worried that he would somehow mar her sweet naivety, and as well as his own hesitance, she was more than likely unprepared for marriage. Her mother had died when she was a young child, giving her no women to speak with about such things, and while he knew he would enjoy the teaching, he somehow wished she knew a little more. The idea that he could frighten or hurt her, no matter his intentions, gnawed away at him like a sickness in his heart. If she was embarrassed to ask him for something so simple as a cooking lesson, he seriously doubted she would be comfortable asking him to teach her anything more... well, _intimate._

Kenshin sighed, trying to push the repetitive arguments away from himself, knowing he was making very little sense over it anymore, and that to follow the train of thought any further would just confuse him further. Kaoru's sweet voice floated back towards him, thoughtful and quiet. "You know Tae, maybe until you work out if this new idea for the Akabeko is feasible or not, perhaps I could do your deliveries for you? I can keep myself available in the afternoons for you and I know my way around town like the back of my hand."

Splitting another log and tossing it onto the pile with the others, Kenshin smiled and shook his head a little. Selfless Kaoru, always wanting to help. It was why he loved her, after all, but part of him registered that he would also be accompanying her, whether she knew it or not. No way was he letting her wander through town alone, an obvious target for anyone that had an inclination to thieve.

"I don't know, Kaoru-chan," Tae replied hesitantly. "I appreciate the offer, but you're-"

"Tae, if you're about to say you don't think I should because of my gender, I'm going to lose my temper." Kaoru crossed her arms and fixed her friend with a hard look. Tae seemed to flounder for a moment, obviously planning to say just that and now trying to back-pedal. Kaoru raised an eyebrow at this, causing Kenshin to have to try his hardest not to laugh aloud.

Tae laughed a little nervously. "I just was going to say that you're so busy, Kaoru-chan. Nothing to do with you being a woman, not at all."

"Well, I can work my schedule around it pretty easily," Kaoru responded, smiling happily again and snuggling down into her thick Haori like a bird fluffing up its feathers. "It's only temporary, until you can decide if it's worth hiring someone properly for the job."

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Tae pressed, glancing over at him as though asking silently for permission. "It could be dangerous."

Kenshin smiled reassuringly at Tae and went back to splitting logs. It was kind of her to try and involve him, as though she acknowledged that Kaoru's safety was his concern. He liked that, and he knew that even if Kaoru didn't want him to go with her, he would follow her anyway. She would be as safe as he could make her, he swore it.

"I can handle it," Kaoru laughed, innocent of the silent exchange between her friend and her would-be suitor. "Besides, you don't want a man doing it. They don't know where _anything _is."

As both girls giggled a little at this last comment, Kenshin found himself confused. Just what was that supposed to mean?

"Good point," Tae sniggered, blushing. "You give a man precise directions and they still can't find the right place."

"They just fumble about and hope for the best, I suppose."

He noticed Kaoru wasn't blushing nearly as badly as Tae was, and both girls erupted into fits of laughter at her words. Kenshin somehow got the impression they weren't talking about streets any more, but he had absolutely no clue what the two young women were laughing at. It sounded almost as if... but no, it couldn't be. Not his sweet little Kaoru-dono?

"Let's not even get started on measurements," she continued as Tae picked up her tea, still giggling as Kaoru made a wide gesture with her arms, oblivious to him watching her movements. "They say something is this big, but what they actually mean is it's this big."

The wide space between her arms instantly shortened to barely a hand-span, and Tae almost spit out her tea as they both fell about laughing. The implications of what Kaoru had just said caused Kenshin to lose concentration completely, his face burning bright red and his mind imploding. His hand slipped during the mental shut-down, and he yelped in pain as he accidentally cut himself.

Kaoru's laughter instantly stopped and before he knew what was happening, she was on her feet and rushing over to him. "Kenshin, are you alright?"

His face was still beet red, shock at hearing his innocent making such jokes and he couldn't seem to get his words out, stammering like an idiot. Surely he had misunderstood the joke? There was just no way she would say something like that, she couldn't possibly mean it the way it had sounded. Kaoru saw his bleeding palm and gasped at the blood pooling there, grabbing his wrist in concern. "Kenshin, you're bleeding! What did you do?"

"I-I-I... this one..." he gulped, her bright blue eyes boring into him as he stuttered. "Wasn't... wasn't paying attention."

"Well, why not, dummy?" she reprimanded, hitting him lightly on his head with her fist so that it was barely a tap, and looking back down to inspect the cut. "It isn't deep, but we should clean and bind it just in case. Come on."

Careful of his injury, she led him back towards the house, where Tae was just standing from her perch on the engawa, smiling a little too knowingly for Kenshin's peace of mind, "I should be going, Kaoru-chan. I'll speak to Tou-san about your offer and get back to you soon, okay?"

Kaoru smiled and wished her goodbye, before sitting him down where she and Tae had been and thrusting a cup of warm tea into his good hand. "Wait here."

As she went off in search of antiseptic and bandages, Kenshin looked thoughtfully into the tea cup, fighting down his blush. Had she meant it the way it sounded? His sweet Kaoru, laughing and joking about... well, about things until a few moments ago, he was absolutely certain she had no idea about? Surely not!

In once swift movement, Kenshin had necked the quickly cooling tea, confusion and uncertainty making his movements jerky. He tried to think back over the time he had known her, and found more than on occasion in his memory where she perhaps hadn't reacted to some lewd comment from Sano the way he might have expected. Had his coarse friend somehow taught her things she shouldn't know? Clenching his fists he glared down at the ground.

"Don't do that!" her voice was high with annoyance as she knelt beside him and snatched his wrist up, trying to pry his fist back open. "Doesn't it hurt?"

Kenshin blinked and forced his body to relax, fixing her with a penetrating look as she began to wash his bloody hand. She didn't pay him any attention, and he was struck by her high cheekbones, the way her neck was long and elegant, disappearing under the collar of her kimono. Her eyes were round and beautiful, as they had always been, but the way her dark brows arched over them and her lashes fluttered beautifully while she concentrated gave him pause. He found himself noticing all sorts of things about her, and realised with a jolt that she had always looked this way, this womanly and enticing, but he had been blinded to it somehow.

"What did you mean earlier?" he asked before he realised what he had said, then deciding to plough on ahead when she did nothing but glance at him, her pink lips pursed slightly in confusion. "When you and Tae were talking about men getting lost and... and measurements."

Kaoru's whole body went stock-still for a second, and as her face reddened, he knew at once that she really had meant what he had was sure she didn't. She cleared her throat, refusing to look at him and applied the antiseptic to his broken skin. "Nothing. Just girl things."

"Girl things." He repeated blankly.

"Yes Kenshin, _girl things_," Kaoru's eyes flashed in warning as she began to wrap his hand, still not looking at him. "You shouldn't have been listening."

She had a point, of course, but he wasn't about to let this slide so easily. Using his good hand, he reached out and touched her wrist gently. "I was curious to know what you were laughing about. I just wondered... what you meant."

He knew he was pushing his luck, her temper already unravelling quickly as she tried to yank her arm away, but there was still the chance he was wrong. Jealousy, an unwelcome and unfamiliar emotion, was eating away at him, and he needed to know. He didn't even know what he would do when he did. Right now confusion besieged him, and his one thought was to just get the truth out of her.

Giving up trying to escape him, Kaoru sighed in exasperation at looked at him with a decidedly bewildered look on her face. "What do you _think _I meant, Kenshin? You've been around, I'm sure you've heard similar jokes before. Why are you making such a big deal out of it?"

He instantly felt bad for embarrassing her. It was true, he had heard jokes like that before, but he just was so shocked to hear it from Kaoru's lips, it had set him completely off kilter. He let go of her and tried to smile, looking down at his knees. "I apologise. I suppose I just never thought you knew about such things, Kaoru-dono. It surprised me."

"Good," she said decidedly as she tied off the bandage. "A little surprise every now and then is good for you, and it's nice to know I can catch you off-guard sometimes."

Kenshin couldn't keep himself from smiling a little at that, but responded seriously. "Still, Sano should thank his lucky stars he isn't here right now. I might be forced to have words otherwise."

"Sano?" Kaoru frowned, looking doubly confused, then a look of sudden understanding dawned and she began to laugh, her blue eyes lighting up beautifully with mischief and humour. "You think Sano is responsible?"

"He... he isn't?"

"No, of course not!" she laughed louder, holding her tummy as she gasped for breath. "Kenshin, I grew up in a Dojo full of boys! Use your imagination! You think I could have a childhood like that and not hear anything?"

Kenshin just blinked as this information sank in and she tried to calm her laughter. Why hadn't he ever realised that? It made so much sense when he thought about, he felt like a complete fool. Growing up in an all-male environment, of course she wouldn't be completely ignorant of such things, but for some reason, he had just assumed it would all go over her young head. Without her mother, Kenshin had automatically come to the conclusion that she wouldn't have any kind of information about this kind of thing, completely forgetting, or maybe even disregarding, that raised by a single father in an all-male setting, she more than likely knew a lot more than most young women her age.

Even as Kaoru continued to try and stifle her laughter, Kenshin found himself suddenly joining her, raising his good hand to cover his eyes in disbelief at his own short-sightedness. His own chuckles seemed to stop her attempts at calming down, and soon they were both laughing hard, sat beside one another on the engawa, resting shoulder to shoulder companionably. Soon their joint hilarity subsided, both grinning and trying to catch their breath.

Kenshin watched as Kaoru wiped tears of mirth, fascinated by the curve of her soft lips and the dusky blush that painted her cheeks. She looked up at him, about to speak now that their laughter had subsided, her eyes alight and sparkling, and before he even knew what he was doing, he had dropped his head and placed a sweet, reverent kiss upon her smiling mouth. It was over quickly, just a chaste promise of things to come, and swallowing down his pounding heart, he smiled warmly down at her surprised face. Kaoru blinked rapidly up at him, and though there was roaring in his ears, he steadily held her gaze.

It wasn't precisely the way he had meant to express himself, but judging from the now very dark blush she wore, it had got the general message across. Plus, she hadn't hit him yet, so he could only hope that meant she didn't mind too much.

Kaoru seemed to suddenly come to her senses, and shaking herself, stated simply. "Well, that was a bit of a surprise."

"Good," he chuckled, touching her hand gently, pleased when she automatically wound her fingers around his own. "Surprises are good for you, are they not?"

The smile he so loved returned to her face with that and she shook her head a little at having her own words tossed back at her so casually. "That's only true if it isn't a nasty surprise, you know."

"And is it?" he questioned, trying to take reassurance from her smile and dancing eyes. "I admit I had hoped it would be a pleasant one."

"That depends entirely on what happens next, I suppose." Kaoru raised her eye brows, her smile fading into a slightly stern expression, and all at once Kenshin realised that she was asking what his intentions were. She was wondering if it was a one off, or if it truly meant something, and he wanted to put any and all fears of that kind to rest immediately.

Raising his now bandaged hand and cupping her chin carefully, he smiled mischievously. "Well, let me put it this way. I fully intend to spend the rest of our lives together showing you that I am very good at following directions, finding precisely the right places without too much fumbling about, and that I have absolutely no need to exaggerate any kind of measurement."

The serious look on her face stayed in place at his words, and he had to give her credit for self-restraint, as her forever innocent and expressive eyes gave away her emotions. It was only when he started to laugh quietly that she allowed herself to follow suit, but before they became too carried away by mirth as they had before, Kenshin kissed her again and pulled her into his arms.

They stayed that way for a long time, both happy, both amused and both at peace. It was only when the spring breeze began to pick up, causing Kaoru to shiver, that she finally broke the silence, looking up at him with a cheeky grin. "You're full of surprises today, huh?"

Kenshin could only laugh. "You started it."

~End


End file.
